SEVEN REPORTS ON HOUSING Government Policies and Informal Sector and Community Responses ARIF HASAN A publication of the OPPRTI (Orangi Pilot Project Research and Training Institute for the Development of Katchi Abadis), 1D/26, Daulat House, Orangi Township, Karachi. Phone: 6658628 6652297 Published by the Orangi Pilot Project-Research and Training Institute (OPPRTI) for the Development of Katchi Abadis, 1D, 26 Daulat House, Orangi Town, Karachi. Phone: 6652297 Fax: (99221) 435704 Price within Pakistan plus postage: Rs March 1992 Produced by Shed Sohail Kazmi at National Printers, SITE, Karachi-28 About the Author Arif Hasan was born in Delhi (India), in 1943, and migrated with his parents to Karachi (Pakistan) in 1947, where he has lived since then. He studied architecture at the Oxford Polytechnic, UK, from 1960 to 1965; worked in architects offices in the UK, France and Spain from 1965 to 1968; and established an independent architectural practice in Karachi in 1968. Arif Hasan is the architect of a large number of important residential, commercial and educational facilities in Pakistan. He has been consultant to the Orangi Pilot Project since 1982. In addition, he has been a consultant to various community action groups, NGOs, government institutions and international agencies including the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, various UN agencies, and the Aga Khan Foundation. From 1979 to 1989 he conducted the Comprehensive Environmental Design Project at the Department of Architecture and Planning at the Dawood College, Karachi. In 1983 Arif Hasan's work received one of the Best Building Awards of the Karachi Development Authority, and in 1990 he received the International Year for the Shelterless Memorial Award of the Japanese government. In 1987, at the Congress of the Union of International Architects (UIA) in Brighton, he was one of the "celebrity speakers." He has been a Technical Reviewer of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture and is currently a member of its Steering Committee. He is also a member of the executive boards of the Habitat International Coalition and the Asian Coalition of Housing Rights. His published works include contributions to a number of books on human settlements and ecology, and regular articles on housing and development for Pakistani and international journals. ABOUT THIS BOOK This book is a publication of the Orangi Pilot Project's Research and Training Institute (OPPRTI) for the Development of Katchi Abadis (squatter settlements). It consists of seven reports on housing selected from the writings of Arif Hasan, consultant and advisor to the OPP since 1982. The selected reports, which were originally prepared for various national and international development agencies, have been reproduced unedited. They critically analyse government policies, informal sector and community responses, and important projects, within the social, economic and political reality of Pakistan in general, and of the lower income groups, in both rural and urban areas, in particular. Report One, Government Housing Policies for Karachi and the Informal Sector in Housing, and Report Five, Illegal Subdivisions: A Case Study of Yakoobabad, were prepared as part of a larger study for the UNESCAP on "Informal Metropolitan Fringe Development in Karachi." The study was completed in April 1987. Paper Two, The Informal Land and Housing Market in Karachi, was prepared for NESPAK, consultants to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), as part of the KMC sponsored "Karachi Urban Land Management Study." It was completed in February 1990. Report Three, Community Development Groups in the Urban Field in Pakistan, was prepared for the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC), Islamabad, and was completed in August 1989. Report Four, Housing Conditions, Directions and Statistics: A Case Study of Karachi, was prepared for the UNCRD's Third International Training Seminar held in Nagoya in March 1991. Report Six, A Case Study of the HDA's KhudakiBasti Incremental Housing Scheme, was prepared in 1990 for the House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC), and Report Seven, Issues in Rural Housing, is a paper which was presented by the author at a seminar on "Rural Development in Housing and Village Planning", organised by the Aga Khan Housing Board in December 1988 in Karachi. There is no report or paper on the Orangi Pilot Project in this collection, although the OPP is undoubtedly an important squatter settlement rehabilitation programme through community participation, in Pakistan. This is because OPPRTI intends to publish Arif Hasan's writing on the OPP in a separate volume, hopefully by the middle of 1992. It is hoped that this publication will help create a better understanding of housing related issues in Pakistan, especially with respect to the problems faced by lower income groups and the appropriateness or otherwise, of the solutions offered to them by the various sectors involved in housing in this country. PERWEEN RAHMAN Director OPPRTI Karachi December 1991 Contents Foreword Report - One: Government Housing Policies for Karachi and the Informal Sector in Housing A. Karachi: A Brief History 1. Karachi position in Pakistan 2. The bay of Karachi in history 3. The growth of Karachi 4. Karachi 1843 to 1947 B. Housing for the Shelterless: Evolution of Government Policies 5. The refuge crisis: government policies between 1947 and 1957 6. Houses for the poor: government policies between 1958 and to 1964 7. A state of flux: government policies between 1964 and 1970 8. Recent directions: government policies from 1974 9. Causes for the failure of the KMP programmes C. The Development of the Informal Sector 10. The informal sector: An introduction 11. Unorganised invasion 12. Illegal subdivisions 13. Organised invasion 14. Future prospects for the informal sector D. Government Promoted Squatting 15. Origin and future of the scheme Report - Two: The Informal Land and Housing Market in Karachi A. Introduction 1. The definition of informal 2. Informal sector activities 3. The development of the informal sector in Karachi 4. The conditions of informal settlements today 5. Factors that determine land and property values 6. Location of job markets for informal sector residents 7. Actors in the drama 8. Why an informal sector B. Institutional Mechanisms 9. Land acquisition: ISDs 10. Land acquisition: Other systems 11. House building and property development 12. Services C. Financial Mechanisms 13. Land, property and rental values in informal settlements and their comparison with neighbouring planned areas 14. The development process: Who get what 15. House building costs 16. Lease: Pros and cons 17. The cost of services: a comparison between informal and formal costs D. Planning Mechanisms 18. The dallal as planner 19. The choice of a location 20. Physical planning 21. Changes over time E. Critical Elements in Informal Sector Activity 22. The appropriateness of the informal sector for lower income groups 23. The dallal as developer 24. Relationship between official planning and ISDs 25. Services 26. House building 27. Comparison between ISDs and formally planned areas 28. Lease issues 29. NGOs 30. The situation at present Report - Three: Community Development Groups in the Urban Field in Pakistan A. Introduction 1. Reasons for the study 2. Objectives of the study 3. The cities chosen for the study 4. Methodology B. Low Income communities and Urban Sector Statistics 5. Demographics 6. Occupations and incomes 7. Physical 8. Revenue generation, expenditure and recovery 9. Future housing needs 10. Conclusions C. An Evaluation of State Policies Related to Low Income Communities 11. Local government institutions involved in urban development 12. Housing policies 13. Services 14. Income generation 15. The role of international agencies 16. Conclusions D. Response to State Policies and its Repercussions 1: The Informal Sector 17. Preamble 18. Land for housing 19. House building 20. Services 21. Health and education 22. Income generation 23. The role of drug money 24. Conclusions E. Response to State Policies and its Repercussions 2: The Formation of CAGs and NGOs 25. Preamble 26. Informal community action groups 27. Formal groups at neighbourhood or settlement level 28. Larger welfare oriented NGOs 29. Discipline specific NGOs 30. Development oriented NGOs 31. Conclusions F. The Response of the State to the Failures of its Policies 32. Preamble 33. Activities of the women's division 34. NGOCC 35. The HDA's Incremental Housing Scheme G. General Recommendations 36. Preamble 37. Support for the development of appropriate state policies 38. Assistance to CAGs and councillors' programmes 39. Assistance to NGOs 40. The need for an Urban Resource Centre H. Suggested Projects for SDC Involvements 41. Preamble 42. Suggested SDC involvement in Karachi 43. Suggested SDC involvement in Hyderabad 44. Suggested SDC involvement in Faisalabad 45. Suggested SDC involvement in Lahore 46. Suggested SDC involvement in Peshawar 47. Support to training Report - Four: Housing Conditions, Directions and Statistics: A Case Study of Karachi A. Introduction 1. Karachi's housing conditions 2. Objectives of the paper B. General Metropolitan Context 3. Population composition and growth 4. Income and expenditure C. Metropolitan Housing Profile 5. Housing stock vs. backlog 6. House prices: Purchase and rental 7. Land price and construction costs D. Thrust of Metropolitan Housing Policy 8. Metropolitan housing policy goals and targets 9. Metropolitan housing plan/programme E. Affordability